Good Morning!!

I awakened with a sense of unreality today, went right to the window and looked out onto a billowing ocean of snow. I had drifted off last night listening to weather updates on the radio and the sound of wind whistling and crackling through the trees outside my house. I suppose it’s understandable that I didn’t sleep very well. I finally fell sound asleep around 4:00 in the morning and slept past 9:00–so I’m getting a very late start today, and feeling somewhat stunned by the awesome power of nature.

I read at the Boston Globe Weather Wisdom blog that Belmont, which is the next town over from mine (Arlington) and is very close to where I live got 27 inches of snow. I live at the top of a huge hill, os I probably got a bit more than that. I can’t take any photos from where I am yet, because I can’t get the storm door open. The snow is piled so high on the front porch that it will probably take me awhile to work my way out, but here’s a shot taken in my town in metro-northwest last night as the storm was building in our area. The good news for me is that I’m one of the lucky ones who didn’t lose power last night.

Hundreds of thousands of Massachusetts residents have lost power because of the mammoth blizzard that lashed Massachusetts with hurricane-force winds and dumped more than two feet of snow in some areas overnight.

The state is at a standstill, with residents hunkering down at home under a rare travel ban imposed by the governor on Friday, and the MBTA saying it will not be able to restore service today. Snowplows are out in force struggling to clear the roads, but the storm is expected to continue dumping snow into midday.

National Guard troops are heading to coastal communities to assist in possible evacuations due to giant waves whipped up by the storm that are expected to batter the beaches at high tide at 10 a.m., potentially devouring beaches and homes.

State emergency management officials said there were no reports of major injuries due to the storm, even though there were two truck rollovers and about 30 stranded motorists had to be rescued from the roads.

A few more national stories on the storm:

A massive blizzard that dumped as much as 3 feet of snow in some parts of the Northeast is heading out to sea, as workers across New York and New England struggle to get airports, trains and highways back online.
The snowstorm, a product of two converging weather systems, knocked out power for more than 650,000 customers and prompted the U.S. Postal Service to suspend deliveries in seven states.

Mandatory evacuations were issued Saturday morning for Massachusetts coastal regions near Hull because of flooding concerns, and high winds whipped throughout the region. Authorities also advised residents to leave shoreline areas in Marshfield and Scituate.

Forecasters say the storm is expected to continue swirling across New England with gusts up to 40 mph in cities including Providence, Rhode Island, Hartford, Connecticut and Boston. Most of the heavy snow will taper off later in the afternoon, they said.

Three of New York’s busiest airports resumed limited service Saturday morning. Logan International Airport in Boston and Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks, Connecticut, remained closed.

If you hail from the nation’s snow country, wintry blizzards are like some bully you endured back in grade school: You never forget them, and their long-ago tortures grow in size and scope with each retelling.

As a storm of possibly historic magnitude slams the East Coast this weekend, my thoughts are blown back to the worst winter tempest of my life, in upstate New York, with the strange, tragic and even funny memories it left behind for those who endured it. The recollections haven’t become overblown with time. The storm really was that bad.

So here’s a yarn about one hopeless battle with Old Man Winter at his angriest. Light a hearth fire and grab a blanket — and by all means feel free to share your own snowbound stories. Consider it our little therapy group.

The weekend’s storm has prompted many comparisons to the Blizzard of 1978. But in working-class Buffalo, nobody talks about 1978. For them, the Mother of All…

That should be enough blizzard news to get you started. I’m going to see if I can get my storm door open, and later on I plan post some general news reads. This is an open thread, so post anything you wish in the comments.

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The Sky Dancing banner headline uses a snippet from a work by artist Tashi Mannox called 'Rainbow Study'. The work is described as a" study of typical Tibetan rainbow clouds, that feature in Thanka painting, temple decoration and silk brocades". dakinikat was immediately drawn to the image when trying to find stylized Tibetan Clouds to represent Sky Dancing. It is probably because Tashi's practice is similar to her own. His updated take on the clouds that fill the collection of traditional thankas is quite special.

You can find his work at his website by clicking on his logo below. He is also a calligraphy artist that uses important vajrayana syllables. We encourage you to visit his on line studio.